A Thirst to Unearth: A Guest Post by Georgia Hunter
Georgia Hunter (We Were the Lucky Ones) returns with a breathtaking novel of friendship, sacrifice and courage against all odds set amid a tumultuous and terrifying time. Read on for an exclusive essay from Georgia on her research process and what it was like to write her latest novel, One Good Thing.
Hardcover $30.00
One Good Thing: A Novel
One Good Thing: A Novel
In Stock Online
Hardcover $30.00
From the New York Times–bestselling author of We Were the Lucky Ones, an unforgettable story of hardship and hope, courage and resilience, that follows one young woman’s journey through war-torn Italy
From the New York Times–bestselling author of We Were the Lucky Ones, an unforgettable story of hardship and hope, courage and resilience, that follows one young woman’s journey through war-torn Italy
One Good Thing is my second historical novel. My first, We Were the Lucky Ones, was inspired by the discovery, at fifteen, that I came from a family of Holocaust survivors. My job as granddaughter, family historian, and (eventually) author was to bring the stories of my ancestral past to life as truthfully as possible. The plot was there – I just had to uncover it.
When I set out to write One Good Thing, which takes place in World War II-era Italy, I thought the research and the writing would feel like an entirely different beast. I knew the story would be rooted in history, but this time around, my characters and their fates were up to me to decide. Allowing myself that creative license was equal parts freeing and terrifying!
For We Were the Lucky Ones, I traveled through eastern Europe and South America, following in my family’s footsteps along their path to survival. My research travel for One Good Thing was smaller in geographic scope, but my goal was similar – to stand in the places my protagonist, Lili, once stood, to imagine what it might have felt like had it been my ordinary life that was upended. My mother Isabelle joined me in Italy; we spent a week motoring the length of the country in our rented Fiat. I’ll never forget strolling the cobblestoned streets of medieval villages and looking out over swaths of bucolic countryside, marveling at how such a dark chapter in history could have unfolded amidst such idyllic scenery.
We Were the Lucky Ones is a story of a family torn apart, trying desperately to come back together. At its core, it’s a love story. It wasn’t until I’d finished writing One Good Thing that I realized this theme – of love – had woven itself once again through my narrative. For Lili, it begins with her love for her best friend, Esti, a relationship drawn from the bond I share with my own closest girlfriends. There is Lili’s love for her late mother, Naomi, for her father, Massimo, and for Esti’s young son Theo, whom she must protect. And there is Lili’s love for Thomas, an American soldier she meets on the streets of Rome. Thomas’s character was drawn from my late father, Tom, and from my husband Robert, two of the kindest, most open-hearted southern gentlemen I know.
So, it turns out I was wrong to think my two books would feel like such disparate endeavors. The research itself produced different findings, of course, but both accounts were inspired by real places, events, and people. Both were sparked by a thirst to unearth and record a chapter of the Holocaust that might have otherwise gone untold. And both have imprinted themselves on my world view, and my sense of self, inspiring me to find hope and strength and empathy when I need it most.
